Friday, Sept. 6: Cascades (1-2-1, T-5th in Pacific Division) vs. UBC Okanagan Heat (3-1-0, 1st in Pacific Division), 7 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 7: Cascades vs. Thompson Rivers WolfPack (1-0-1, 4th in Pacific Division)
MRC Sports Complex, Field 4
Webcast: CanadaWest.tv

The UFV Cascades men's soccer team hopes to make home field a fortress as they welcome two of the hottest teams in the conference this weekend.

Both weekend opponents – the UBC Okanagan Heat and Thompson Rivers WolfPack – posted eyebrow-raising results as they hosted the UBC Thunderbirds and UVic Vikes last week. The Heat edged UVic 3-2 on Saturday before shutting out reigning conference champ and preseason No. 1-ranked UBC 2-0 on Sunday. The WolfPack, meanwhile, posted a 1-1 draw with UBC Saturday before bombing the Vikes 5-0 on Sunday.

While their opponents are carrying a lot of momentum, the Cascades draw strength from the fact they tend to thrive at home – they were 5-1-2 at MRC Sports Complex last season.

"It'll be another tough weekend," UFV head coach Tom Lowndes predicted. "There's no easy weekends in Canada West, and we're playing two teams that are coming in full of confidence. We can take our own confidence from how we did last weekend, going to a tough place (UNBC) and getting two positive results (a 1-1 draw Friday and a 3-1 win Sunday). The last game, we started to turn the corner and play the way we want to play. I think we can be a real force at home."

Players to watch: Cascades rookie midfielder Jehmrode Kahlon had a weekend to remember. Making his UFV debut against UNBC, the hometown Abbotsford product had a strong performance in Friday's draw, and followed that up by creating two goals in Sunday's victory. He was fouled on a run into the box to set up Gurmaan Jhaj's game-winning penalty kick, and drew an assist on the insurance marker, stealing the ball and going for a 45-yard run the other way before passing to Atle Koellmel for the finish. For their part, both the Heat and WolfPack have red-hot offensive players for the Cascades to contend with. Fourth-year UBCO forward Corbin Beauchemin is the CW third star of the week after scoring twice vs. UVic; the first star of the week is TRU's fellow fourth-year forward James Fraser, who scored once vs. UBC and potted a hat trick vs. the UVic to grab the early CW scoring lead with four goals.